Page 1 of 1

Connecting monitors to mac - mixer or interface?

Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 3:54 am
by gadders
Howdy, apologies if ive missed a blatant answer to this somewhere on the forum but i've genuinely done a fair bit of searching on here and haven't really come to a conclusion! Most of what i was reading was for live performing, not just using the monitors through logic on the mac. All being well ive won some mr5's on ebay - I have a cheap numark mixer and a cheap audio interface (tascam us122)... can i connect the monitors straight to the output of the macbook, do i need to use the mixer/us122 to bridge the gap or do i need something more suited altogether?

Thanks in advance,

Phil.

Re: Connecting monitors to mac - mixer or interface?

Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 6:27 am
by moki
I would personally use a proper audio card, I think you loose quality if you run audio from a 3.5 mm

Re: Connecting monitors to mac - mixer or interface?

Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:30 pm
by wirez
Using the audio interface will do but if you have quality issues buy a better interface. A mixer isn't really necessary unless your interface doesn't supply the correct outputs for the monitors. The output on the interface for the monitors should be 1/4" jack for best possible quality.

Re: Connecting monitors to mac - mixer or interface?

Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:37 pm
by b166er
Using the balanced 1/4" inputs of your monitors will yield you better sound, and your Tascam must support balanced 1/4" outs as well (it does). Your Numark is likely a simple DJ mixer and you'd want to use it as just that a DJ mixer. The Tascam would sound way better than your Numark all things given.

Re: Connecting monitors to mac - mixer or interface?

Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 11:03 pm
by beatbum
Interesting since I just got a MacBook Pro over the weekend. I'm planning on connecting my monitors via a 2X 1/4" to single 1/8" Y-cable. When I had this hooked up to my Mac tower, I got a buzzing. I wonder if this will happen on the macbook. If so, I guess I need one of them interfaces, right? Are they USB to 1/4"?

Re: Connecting monitors to mac - mixer or interface?

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 12:07 am
by wirez
beatbum wrote:Interesting since I just got a MacBook Pro over the weekend. I'm planning on connecting my monitors via a 2X 1/4" to single 1/8" Y-cable. When I had this hooked up to my Mac tower, I got a buzzing. I wonder if this will happen on the macbook. If so, I guess I need one of them interfaces, right? Are they USB to 1/4"?
In my opinion an audio interface is an essential piece of equipment for monitors. You can get Firewire or USB ones and the outputs are two or more 1/4" jacks. Some come with phono out as well, but I wouldn't recommend them as they're lower quality.

Re: Connecting monitors to mac - mixer or interface?

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 12:09 am
by beatbum
Thanks! Will stop at GuiTARD Center after work! : P

Re: Connecting monitors to mac - mixer or interface?

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 3:50 pm
by gadders
Quality cheers for the advice! :)